1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking apparatus. More particularly, to a cooking apparatus in which a single driving fan and a plurality of driven fans are provided to effectively agitate high-temperature air, whereby the high-temperature air is evenly distributed into the overall space of a cooking chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a conventional cooking apparatus includes a heater and a blowing fan. When the blowing fan suctions air inside a cooking chamber, the heater heats the suctioned air to high-temperature air. After that, the blowing fan discharges the high-temperature air into the cooking chamber. As this air suction, heating, and discharge procedure is repeatedly performed, food placed in the cooking chamber is cooked.
An example of conventional cooking apparatuses is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1997-126463. The conventional cooking apparatus is designed to reduce a temperature difference inside a cooking chamber. Two blowing fans and two heaters are mounted at an outside of a side wall and a rear wall of the cooking chamber, respectively. The air inside the cooking chamber is suctioned and again discharged in a high-temperature state via the side wall and the rear wall of the cooking chamber, whereby food placed in the cooking chamber is cooked.
In the conventional cooking apparatus having the above-described configuration, a rapid cooking of food is possible and a temperature distribution in the cooking chamber is relatively even since food is cooked by the high-temperature air supplied from both the adjacent walls of the cooking chamber.
However, the conventional cooking apparatus has a problem in that it consumes excessive energy since the two blowing fans are operated by use of different motors to reduce the temperature difference in the cooking chamber. Further, based upon the asymmetric structure of the conventional cooking apparatus in which the two blowing fans are arranged adjacent to each other, it is impossible to achieve a completely even temperature distribution in the cooking chamber.